Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed and donated by Vance Tigges & Kathy Weaver.

A highly respected citizen of Carroll county who donned the blue for three years and valiantly fought in defense of the stars and stripes on the battle fields of the south is John Parker, a retired agriculturist of Warren township. He was born in Langton, England, on the 16th of March. 1833, being a son of John and Elizabeth (Taylor) Parker, also natives of Langton.

John Parker spent the first twenty-four years of his life in the mother country, acquiring his education in the common schools, after the completion of which he learned the blacksmith's trade. In 1857 he took passage for America, locating in Canada, where he remained for three years. On the 1st of June, 1860, he crossed into the United States, settling in Dixon, Illinois, where he continued to follow his trade. When the call came for troops in the 60's, he responded, going to the front with Company H. Third Missouri Cavalry. He saw considerable active fighting as well as field duty while serving in the Department of the Northwest and assisted in driving the rebels out of Missouri. During the winter of 1864 he crossed the Arkansas on the ice at Little Rock, where he was later mustered out, after having spent three years and nine months in the service. Although he never sustained any wounds on the field of battle, Mr. Parker was left quite deaf as the result of exposure, but aside from this affliction, which naturally has grown more pronounced with the passing of time, he enjoys most excellent health at seventy-eight. After receiving his discharge he returned to Dixon, Illinois, where he was subsequently married, following which he located on a farm which he cultivated until 1879. In the latter year he moved to Iowa, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Warren township, Carroll county, upon which he has ever since continued to reside. Success following his efforts he was later able to add to his tract, which was located on section 16, a quarter of section 17. He has since disposed of one hundred acres of the latter, investing the proceeds in one hundred and sixty acres in South Dakota. In 1909 Mr. Parker divided up his property among his children, giving the old homestead to his three unmarried daughters, who rent out the land. He continues to make his home on the farm where he has resided for over thirty-two years.

On the 1st of March, 1866, Mr. Parker was united in marriage to Miss Mary Leivan, of Dixon, Illinois. Mrs. Parker was born in the district of Trier, Prussia, Germany, on the 13th of December, 1842, and was a daughter of Matthias and Anna Mary (Mischel) Leivan, the mother having passed away when her daughter was six weeks of age. Matthias Leivan was also a native of Trier on the river Mosel, his natal day being the 13th of November, 1813. At the age of twenty-one he entered the German army, serving for four years in the Ninth Regiment of Hussars. After his period of service had expired he was married to Anna Mary Mischel, their union being solemnized in 1839. Mr. Leivan emigrated to the United States with his four-year-old daughter in 1846, locating in Pennsylvania. In 1857 he removed to Dixon, Illinois, and there he passed away on the 15th of May, 1893. To Mr. and Mrs. Parker there were born five daughters and one son, the order of their birth being as follows: Jennie M., who is living on the old homestead; Ida, the wife of Charles Rocksien, of Manning, who has two children, Pearl and Lee; Clara, also at home; Grace, the widow of Homer Waugh, of Zion City, Illinois; Minnie, who is on the old homestead; and Charles W., of Draper, South Dakota, who married Mildred George, of Coon Rapids, Iowa, to whom has been born one daughter, Mabel. Mrs. Parker is deceased, having passed away on the old homestead on the 13th of October, 1907.

The entire family affiliate with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Parker was also a member. Mr. Parker maintains relations with his old comrades of the field through the medium of his membership in McPherson Post, No. 33, G. A. R., of Manning, Iowa, of which body he was chaplain for many years. Ever since he was granted the right of suffrage through naturalization Mr. Parker has voted with the republican party. He was the first school director in the Manning district, which at that time had the supervision over three schools, continuing in this capacity for several years. Mr. Parker has made many friends, whose regard has grown with the passing of time, during the long period of his residence in Warren township.

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